I am the woman in the freeweights section of the gym

Options
1…2021232526…35

Replies

  • Chaskavitch
    Chaskavitch Posts: 172 Member
    Options
    I go to Anytime Fitness, which is a pretty small gym, and there are a lot of women lifters in a huge age and overall fitness range. A lot of them are there for personal training sessions, but after they stop having one-on-one sessions, they generally continue to show up in the free weights section :) There are at least five girls training for a figure/physique competition. My sister and I maxed out on bench last week, and when we hit 145#, three different guys came over and were like "Wow, great job. You don't see girls benching with 45s on the bar very often." Most of the guys are actually really friendly and encouraging.

    For all the girls who are afraid to do free weights because they don't have a spotter, just use dumbbells for your arm lifts. For squats you can use the power rack, and it will catch the bar if you fall, and for bench, use dumbbells. You won't be able to do as much total weight as you could do with a barbell, but it engages more stabilizer muscles, and no one will be mad at you if you drop one on the ground because it is too heavy. Way better than choking yourself until someone notices you need help :)
  • jrhanna84
    jrhanna84 Posts: 66 Member
    Options
    Bumping!
  • cathyjones08
    cathyjones08 Posts: 26 Member
    Options
    I was once told by a College Football Coach (a long time ago) that I didn't belong in the gym that I was in. I assumed he was just embarrassed that my friend and I were squatting more that some of his players.

    As a little bit of a "go girl" empowerer, I have held onto that for a motivation for a lifetime of fitness.
  • gregallen549
    gregallen549 Posts: 11
    Options
    Good post. As a dude I can tell you that I respect a woman who will walk into a weight room. If any man makes negative remarks, you can rest assured that he is suffering from low self esteem.
  • LeslieBell123
    LeslieBell123 Posts: 11 Member
    Options
    Thanks for the post, OP. After overcoming my initial fear of the weight area, I'm ok going in there now and doing my thing. But I am still a little afraid of asking for help when I'm in there. I want to squat more weight than I'm able to lift up and onto my shoulders, but I can't figure out how to get the bar up onto my shoulders without help. Should I just bite the bullet and ask one of the guys to help me? Or is there some easy way of doing this on my own? There must be a way that people with home gyms do it.
  • Ariadne83
    Ariadne83 Posts: 36 Member
    Options
    Thanks for this, it's something I often think about but don't know any other gym go-ers so have just kept it to myself. I am too intimidated to go to the freeweights section. It is full of young men all hanging around flexing their muscles, chatting, laughing and lifting heavy weights (as you'd expect!). I just feel too random and awkward going there but I want to start using the equipment there eventually. I dislike the way I feel barred from the area even though there is no rule against me being there.

    Right now I use the cable jungle, lat machine and some handheld weights plus all the weight machines as they are in the normal part of the gym so that gives me a good weight lifting session but it'd be nice to feel I can go to whichever part of the gym I want to. I will re-read your post and start to overcome the fear!
  • tmaryam
    tmaryam Posts: 289 Member
    Options
    I love this. Even though I will probably never gain the courage to go there myself, I applaud and admire all the strong, beautiful women who do.
  • giftogab
    giftogab Posts: 29
    Options
    great great post. :)
  • moya_rargh
    moya_rargh Posts: 1,473 Member
    Options
    I'm a small guy and years ago I was intimidated by the free weights section. I soon realised that everybody is generally zoned in on their own routine and felt at ease since.

    Weights for all! :)
  • zmbc13
    zmbc13 Posts: 2
    Options
    Thank you for the post! I would like to use free weights as well. I am going to find a trainer and surely look for the books.
  • MountainMaggie
    MountainMaggie Posts: 104 Member
    Options
    If you ever, ever feel insecure there, just look at pictures of yourself!
  • Fit2BeFly
    Fit2BeFly Posts: 185 Member
    Options
    Bump to read later
  • LisaP517
    LisaP517 Posts: 1
    Options
    Great starting point for me as far as free weights. My husband keeps telling me I should do them because they use stabilizing muscles that don't come into play as much (if at all) on the machines. But he's tried to teach me proper technique, and there are so many tiny little nuances to think about constantly that it makes it more of a mental workout than a physical one, which is the opposite of what I'm looking for when I go to the gym. What I want is something I can do without having to worry about a dozen different points of technique, any one of which can injure me if I get it wrong. Can someone recommend some easy "mindless" things to do in the weight room?
  • Ely82010
    Ely82010 Posts: 1,998 Member
    Options
    Great starting point for me as far as free weights. My husband keeps telling me I should do them because they use stabilizing muscles that don't come into play as much (if at all) on the machines. But he's tried to teach me proper technique, and there are so many tiny little nuances to think about constantly that it makes it more of a mental workout than a physical one, which is the opposite of what I'm looking for when I go to the gym. What I want is something I can do without having to worry about a dozen different points of technique, any one of which can injure me if I get it wrong. Can someone recommend some easy "mindless" things to do in the weight room?

    I can't because nothing is mindless in my life. If you want to get results, in anything that you do, you need to concentrate and do things right. In my opinion mindless means lazy, sorry but you asked.

    Do you eat mindless and expect to lose weight?
  • teresamwhite
    teresamwhite Posts: 947 Member
    Options
    I am so glad this is stickied! I am starting SL 5x5 today, with a personal trainer to make sure I understand proper form, and am both really excited and really nervous! This has gone a long way to make me feel better...it wouldn't have changed my mind from going to the weight room, but it did make me feel a lot less nervous!
  • WarriorLeo91
    WarriorLeo91 Posts: 2 Member
    Options
    I'm a thin guy, but very defined and (for my size) strong. I don't know about other guys, but when I see a capable, or muscular/defined woman (not to point of a solid six-pack of biceps the size of her head, but I'm sure some men do) at the gym, or out living a healthy life and having a "smoothie instead of a soda" type of lifestyle, I'm not intimidated or laugh at her, I find it EXTREMELY attractive that a woman takes care of herself, I'm not some douche bag that would go hit on her in the gym ( I have a girlfriend, but even if I was single, I don't like having my workouts interrupted, why would they?) Point is, go lift those free-weights!! A strong woman is a sexy woman! =)

    Don't be afraid and all the power to you girls out there !! =)
  • 75dsk
    75dsk Posts: 18 Member
    Options
    Thanks so much for your helpful and inspiring information.
  • nerchk
    nerchk Posts: 136 Member
    Options
    im terrified of the free weights section. i read strong lifts and got a trainer last year to help me. even with a trainer i couldnt get myself to do my bench presses. i was 40lbs lighter then. just gave birth and i need to go back and im wondering if ill be.laughed at being this big trying to squat, and not hiding in the smith machine. But im sure ill go back. not tomorrow but soon
  • BlazingBella
    BlazingBella Posts: 14 Member
    Options
    Bump! This is awesome information. Encouraging to hear what everyone has to say!
  • StarPlatinumORA
    StarPlatinumORA Posts: 21 Member
    Options
    Yay! It's been nearly 2 years since I've been in the gym (hospital, time off work, getting back together, etc...) but I used to use the free weights section. The trouble is that i'm not 100% clear on how to fix your own barbell. I used some of the pre-made ones to do benches and it was OK. My form was probably **** but then, I was still improving. I didn't mind it too much, but then, I went early in the morning, so it was quieter.

    There doesn't appear to be a proper squat rack in my gym. :I I think maybe there's a separate room which I don't know about, lol.

    For me the priority is to get a bit of fitness back before I go nuts doing that. I hate that the squat is such a core activity because I'm terrible at it. I couldn't get lower than parallel. My hamstrings are crazy tight, it's gonna take time to get them a bit better...
    Great starting point for me as far as free weights. My husband keeps telling me I should do them because they use stabilizing muscles that don't come into play as much (if at all) on the machines. But he's tried to teach me proper technique, and there are so many tiny little nuances to think about constantly that it makes it more of a mental workout than a physical one, which is the opposite of what I'm looking for when I go to the gym. What I want is something I can do without having to worry about a dozen different points of technique, any one of which can injure me if I get it wrong. Can someone recommend some easy "mindless" things to do in the weight room?

    I can't because nothing is mindless in my life. If you want to get results, in anything that you do, you need to concentrate and do things right. In my opinion mindless means lazy, sorry but you asked.

    Do you eat mindless and expect to lose weight?

    Isn't it just simpler to say that you need to be mindful during any lift, and leave it at that? :/

Categories